Moving days & "the blood that maketh an Atonement"-Lev. 17:11‏

The missionaries who live in Munhava have been many days without water..... but not anymore, because this week they moved to a new apartment!

The longest period without water was for eight (8) days at the beginning of the year, but there have been numerous times of three (3) days at a time.  Normally, when this occurs we bring them and their water containers to our apartment. For water storage the common practice is to use a 20 liter yellow container (which was previously used for cooking oil). These empty containers can be purchased for $2 on the street. Every home (including ours) has some.

The missionaries have smaller containers used to store purified water.  Additionally, upon occasion, they use our guards showers and we do their laundry.

Finally, enough was enough and even though the Rental Contract goes until the end of May and the rent for the month of March had already been paid, the mission wrote a termination letter to the Landlord. Therefore, on Tuesday, March 4th the missionaries were sleeping in a new and much nicer apartment!

Here is a photo of the new kitchen, complete with granite countertop!!

 

The young man with the suit coat is humble and always happy Elder Jose Caetano Antonio from Manga 2.  He was somewhat nervous as this was his first time flying. Previously, on August 22, 2013, Mom and I conducted a type of English proficiency test for him. He was then called to Londrina, Brazil which is within my old mission. 

  

While Mom selects the best avocado the woman in the red top sells various slices of goat!

 

 

On Friday, March 7th, Elder Anderson  starts his return home to New Zealand having completed his mission. 

 

Elder Sip from St. George took this photo of us today....

 

 

 Elder Anderson with his arm around Elder Ensaldo from the Pheonix area, who has also completed his mission. The other elders are from Manga 1. 

 

Here are some notes I made regarding the blood that maketh an Atonement.

Just before offering the great intercessory prayer and entering the garden of Gethsemane to endure “ the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.” (D & C 76:107; 88:106) Jesus gathered his eleven faithful apostles and said unto them: “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” 

 (John 16: 32)

Earlier Jesus had taught: “...I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me....And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”(John 8:16, 29)  

The apostle John testified of Jesus by stating: “... for God giveth him not the Spirit by measure,for he dwelleth in him, even the fullness.” (JST John 3:34)

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “None ever were perfect but Jesus: and why was He perfect ? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fullness of the Spirit,” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 187-188).

Once in the garden of Gethsemane “he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy.” (Mark 14:33) the footnote for ‘sore amazed’ states: “amazed, awestruck, astonished.” This has also been described as “terrified, surprised”

Elder James E. Talmage said that Jesus “was soon enveloped by deep sorrow, which appears to have been, in a measure, surprising to Himself ”(Jesus the Christ, page 611)

Now in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus took the combined sins of all mankind, Jesus experienced for the first time in His life the loss of the Spirit as the Holy Ghost can not dwell where there is sin and Jesus was temporarily experiencing the effects of becoming the greatest sinner of all time.

Satan was of course present. The word ‘agony’ comes from the Greek word ‘agon’ which means: contest, struggle, fight, facing an opponent. At one point “.. there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and he sweat as it were great drops of blood..” (JST Luke 22: 43-44)

Luke the physician, records: “great drops of blood.” 

(JST Luke 22:44)

Why is this important ? The Old Testament records: “..the life of the flesh is in the blood...for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11)

President Brigham Young explained: " the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, ...This is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood;"  (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses vol. 3 page 206.)

Elder James E. Talmage wrote: "It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing." (Talmage, ‘Jesus the Christ’; pp. 613-614)

The Sacrament prayer for the water states: "that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them" (D & C 20:79)

"for behold, blood cometh from every pore" (Mosiah 3:7)  "his blood atoneth" (Mosiah 3:11) "the atonement of his blood" (Mosiah 3: 15) "the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins" (Mosiah 3: 16) 

In the Old Testament times, blood was literally sprinkled upon the believers.

"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant.." (Exodus 24: 7-8) 

King Benjamin's people prayed: "O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness for our sins" (Mosiah 4: 2).

During the time of total darkness in which “there could be no light” (3 Ne. 8:21) a voice was heard by the more righteous part that had been spared saying: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God..ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood;...ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and contrite spirit” (3 Ne. 9: 15, 19-20).

“To have a broken heart and a contrite spirit is to be humble and receptive to the will of God and to the counsel of those He has called to lead His Church. It also means to feel deep sorrow for sin and a sincere desire to repent.” 

 (True to the Faith, Sacrifice, pages 149-150).

Oh, that this Sunday and every Sunday, we may attend Church and offer the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit in remembrance of the blood of Christ, which was shed for us.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: "So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the 'sacrifice unto the Lord ... of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' (D&C 59:8), a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving 'away all [our] sins' in order to 'know God' (Alma 22:18) for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him." ("Deny Yourselves of All Ungodliness," Ensign, May 1995, 68)

I love you!

Safari!

Hello!
   Well, somehow last week I lost my gigantic email before I sent it and then we didn't 

have enough power to send it later so I'm even more behind than usual....  Oh Kim, oh Africa......

   Two weeks ago, we took a little vacation to South Africa. It was a birthday/anniversary/mostlyforsanity

 trip and it was AWESOME!!!  We thought Africa was Africa and were amazed at the difference 

between the two countries.  Where one has buildings crumbling from disrepair, the other 

has modern, gleaming buildings; one has narrow roads with potholes and sinkholes when

 paved, and dirt roads otherwise, the other has smooth asphalt roads with wide shoulders; 

 one has garbage everywhere, the other is clean and garbage-free; one has a perpetual 

coating of dust and dirt, the other was fresh and green.  The contrast was startling and 

we kept saying things like, "Look at these roads!" or "Wow, what a nice building!" or 

"It's so pretty here!"  And going shopping for food (first time I've ever bought food as a trip souvenir...) was 

overwhelming.   I told Dad that I felt like I was on "Supermarket Sweep" and I had 10 

minutes to decide what things I wanted very most out of the whole, huge store. We wanted

 to bring back the whole produce section.  I bought nuts because I miss my morning almonds. 

 Dad bought, what else? chocolate chip cookies.   They didn't sell chocolate chips - you had

 to go to a specialty baking store for them - so he bought cookie mixes and cookies. 

It gave us a small taste of how weird it'll be when we come home.  Hmm...
   But I'm yakking too much. :)

 Here's what we did: 

 On Monday we flew to Maputo, where the Hobsons picked us up, and then drove to Kreuger Park. 

It's about a 3 hour drive from Maputo and the scenery was really beautiful along the way.
 

It was too early to check in, so we went and got something to eat. Food is probably the number one thing we miss - besides consistent water and electricity - so we were stoked. Our first 'real meal' was at a Wimpys Burger. We had chicken wraps and I had a salad and Dad had a chocolate shake. We felt like we had won the lottery. Then we drove to Kreuger Park to drive through on our own, but it closed in an hour and it was $50 to go in, so we decided to wait for the next day. Then we checked into our B & B and that night we had BBQ ribs. Ka-ching!!! By Outback standards, they were so-so but for us they were fabulous.
We crashed early because our safari started at 5:45 am. 

The next morning, we rolled out and and climbed in the safari jeep. We had a family from France with us - parents and two boys. They didn't speak English, so we didn't talk too much, but our guide was Becky from England. She likes wildlife so 3 years ago, she came to Africa and now is a guide through the park. Wow!! There is nothing like being one car-lane away from an elephant or a giraffe! It was so cool!!! 12 feet away from us!
These guys were fighting!

Love this pose!

Hippos 

 

Zebras

Baboons

This mother baboon was struggling to get her baby on her back. Dad said that she needed a capalana!

Pumba

Waiting for the water buffalo to cross the road.

Impala

Beautiful countryside!

 

There's a herd of elephants down below us.

That night, Dad said that he wanted to go back into the park on our own the next day. So we got up at 5:15am the next morning and headed back to Kreuger. We didn't see as much as we had seen the day before, but we did see a mother giraffe and her baby and I decided to get a few pics WITH the animals.

 You're not supposed to get out of your car but I thought 'when am I ever going to get a chance like this?' So when we saw this giraffe so close to us, I told Dad I was going to get out. He took my picture (from the safety of the car) and while he was taking it I heard movement in the brush and thought "LION!!" so I dove in the backseat of the car. It was just another giraffe coming out of the trees, but it got my heart pumping...

Me and the Zebras

Me and your Dad ;)

 

It was still darkish here, but this is a mother giraffe and her baby.

This guy was watching us for awhile before he ventured super close to eat. It was so fun to watch him!

After Kreuger (and a trip to the giftshop ), we went back to the B & B, packed up, and headed to Nelspruit. It's only an hour and a half away. It's such a nice city - so pretty, green, and clean. We loved eating yummy food! I had fish 3 times and we both had lots of salads because we miss them so much. And soup! They don't know how to make soup here. It's so weird!! They only make one kind - a very watery potato soup that they call vegetable soup. So, we had a food marathon!! 

  It was kind of like being on a cruise because we ate whether we were hungry or not just because we could. :)

I felt like I had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner the whole time but didn't want to miss a meal because I knew it was my only chance for a long time. Burp! I mean, sigh....
And I got my hair cut so it's not so lop-sided (it's still going to be a few months until it's even). 

Here I am with Lydia from South Africa who worked on a Greek cruise ship a few years ago for the heck of it.

Another big, big difference between the two countries is the cost of things. In Mozambique a regular hotel room is $225, pension is $125. Our room at Kreuger was $80 and Nelspruit was $90. A meal that would cost us $15-$20 in Mozambique was $7-$10 in Nelspruit and it was delicious!! We kept saying, "This is so good - and so cheap!" 

They have a botanical garden in the middle of the city so we went there one morning.

  

 Here's Indiana Jones at the waterfalls.

Only a few flowers, but we spied this gorgeous one.

 We left there Friday morning and drove back to Maputo where we met the Tidwells and went to the Arte Parque where local craft people sell their things. They were closing but when they saw us coming, the ones that were still there swarmed us.

We got a few things and then headed to - where else? - get dinner. Maputo has some good restaurants and this Mexican one is owned by an American and would give Cafe Rio some competition. We were still so full, we could only eat half so we got it to go and took it on the plane with us. It made a great lunch the next day. Later, I told Dad that I wish we would have gotten a couple of meals 'to go' for Beira. It was fun hanging out and visiting with the Tidwells! We compared notes and swapped stories. They're troopers!

Then back home to Beira. Saturday was mega laundry day and food shopping. Party's over.....
Sunday, the new teacher (and none of the presidency) showed up so I scrambled to get a lesson together. We have two teachers so someone is supposed to teach the first hour, then I do singing time, and then the other one teaches the second hour but they are so unpredictable, I'm just going to start preparing the whole enchilada and if somebody shows up, it's a bonus!:)

Well, that was our super fun week!
Sure do love all of you!

Faith and lots of it!‏

Hello!

I'm still behind and didn't write last week because half of y'all were in China and the Internet was sketchy.
Monday we gave the neighbor girls a ride to school because their mom and dad were out of town. Here's a picture that I took last week when they came over to show me that they had dyed their dog's hair with food coloring. ;). They are completely opposite, physically and personality-wise. The one on the far right is Christiana and I've helped her with her homework a few times. She's cute and outgoing. Her older sister in the middle is more shy. 

After we dropped them at school, we headed to pick up Elder Antonio who was flying to the Brazil MTC to serve a mission in Brazil. The visas to Brazil take so long that they go ahead and have the elders get set apart and start serving their missions here while they wait for their visas.  Elder Antonio is one of those and he's also the guy that we gave the English proficiency test to just a couple of weeks after we got here in Beira.  He has the cutest personality and is so sweet. He wants to learn English really bad and practices if he feels comfortable with you. When we took Valentines treats to their apartment, he sent me a text later that said,

 "Thanks so much, sister Snelson. was delicious and drives me crazy. This is elder Antonio." ;)  

Well, he's got a ways to go....  I got him an English Book of Mormon when we did the proficiency test,  and he's been reading in it every day, along with his Portuguese one.

On the way to the airport, me and dad talked to him about the flight and told him what to expect.  This is the first airplane flight for most - if not all - of the local elders, so they are usually nervous.  He was very nervous.  We told him how to pop his ears, find his seat, go through security,etc.  When we got to the airport, three of his friends were there waiting. It was so sweet to watch as he gave each of them something.  They were excited for the hand-me-down white shirt, a book, etc.   They stood and watched him the whole time while he checked in and then they all said their last goodbyes. The kid on the far right is one of our seminary teachers and the littlest, skinniest guy. 

       While we stood in the check-in line, I told Elder Antonio that he looked nice in his suit. He said it was new and he had just bought it a few weeks earlier on the street.  I noticed that his suit pants had safety pins in the hems to make them shorter. When we got home, I called Sandy Tidwell and asked if she would hem them for him when he got to Maputo before he flew to Brazil and she said she would. 

  When E. Antonio went through security, he didn't understand to put his stuff in a bin and then he didn't understand how to go through and retrieve it. Dad and I were calling to him through the doorway but he didn't get it.  Then a guy from our building came for that same flight and he saw that we were trying to help him, so he talked to Elder Antonio and helped him through. A tender mercy.

 Later that day, I sent the pictures that we had taken at the airport and got this email from him:

 

thank you Elder and Sister  Snelson.  obrigado pela buleia . quando o aviao estava a subir  para o ar fiquei com muito medo , pensei que  ia  cair , mais  nada  aconteceu . cheguei muito bem . obrigado pelas fotos  que mime  enviaram . now  i miss munhava. i will miss  Elder  and Sister  Snelson . have good p day.   Elder Antonio 

Translation:

thank you Elder and Sister Snelson. thanks for the ride.  when the plane was climbing into the air I got really scared, I thought it was going to fall, nothing happened. I arrived very well. thanks for the photos you sent me. now i miss Munhava. i will miss Elder and Sister Snelson. have good p day.    Elder Antonio 

Isn't that the cutest??   It took some faith for him to get on that plane. ;)

The next day, we went and got a new apartment for some elders - the ones that have been without water so often - 10 days one time. This new apartment is way nice and they are so excited to be moving.   

That night, Mariana dropped by because she got a call on her ad!!  Actually, she got two calls: one from a guy that wants her to teach him English and one from a newly immigrated Indian woman that wants Mariana  to teach her Portuguese.  I was making pancakes for dinner, so she helped me and then ate with us. Afterward, Dad went to move the elders and she and I planned her lesson topics.  I made copies of some of my MTC sheets and loaned her a vocabulary book that I have.

    After we planned her lessons, she pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to me.  She bought me a capalana,  a necklace, and two pairs of earrings. It was so nice of her, I was totally surprised! She said she got it as a thank you for my help.  The guy that wants her to teach him English paid her for the whole week in advance. I felt kind of bad that she spent money on me but it was so, so sweet and fairly unusual. The people here don't usually express gratitude. 

     So, here's the lesson I learned.  I had helped Mariana write and print the ads and then practiced interviewing with her to go and apply at the new Chinese resort.  She was hired on the spot at the resort and was so excited about it. But when she went to work the first day, she found out that she would have to work on Sundays and she told them that she could work every day but Sunday. They said she had to anyway so she didn't take the job.  When she told me, I was a little hesitant because jobs are SO hard to find here but she was adamant and said, "But Sister, it's Sunday!"  I had figured out that she would make 50 cents an hour at the resort.  With her teaching jobs, she's making almost $2.00 an hour with the Indian woman and $5.00 an hour teaching Portuguese to the man.  So, she had more faith than I did and really got the blessings for it. 

  On Friday,  two of our elders finished their missions - Elder Ensaldo, who was a ZL and Elder Anderson from New Zealand, who I always got a kick out of. We picked them up and took them to the airport. 

After the airport, we stopped to pick up a wedding cake that some elders had made, to the church for them, then stopped by to pick up dad's Pday clothes that I'd had loaned to another elder when we did their laundry (they had no water) and helped them with their apartment, and then we went looking at apartments with another group of elders because their landlord is raising the rent 30% so they need to move. Long day....

 

   Sunday was the best Primary yet! The teacher was actually prepared and taught the first hour - Woot!! I've learned that these kids need visuals to understand the concepts. The lesson was on repentance so I did the rocks in the backpack demo but used canned food with labels of different sins on them - being unkind, stealing, lying, etc. I had kids come up and pull one out of the bag and read it. Then I gave them a scenario and asked if it was good or bad. At least they said 'bad' on all of them....they're starting to catch on. ;)  I asked how they could fix the wrong choice and showed how the bag went from heavy to light, just how we feel when we repent and get rid of the heaviness of guilt and shame.  They got it. 

     Then I told them if they tried really hard and learned a new song, I had a special demonstration for them. So we sang and then after,  I held up a glass pitcher of water and told them the water was a symbol of them - when they were good, they were clean. Then I had someone read the ' sins be as scarlet' scripture and put red food coloring in the water while I named the sins on the cans. Then I asked what they could do to be clean again and they said "repent" so I said 'pretend this is repentance'  and put some bleach in the water. 

    When I stirred it and it turned clear again.  They were floored! I felt like David Copperfield. Haha! It was the quietest that Primary has ever been - not a peep. Afterward, the two guys in there - the teacher and secretary - asked me how I did it and when I told them they were amazed. There was a little group of 4 or 5 kids waiting for me outside and they asked me to tell them how I did it, so I did. It's fun to do stuff or cook something for the people here because it's all new to them and they are easy to entertain.  Life doesn't have much variety for them.  So, I'm trying to have an object lesson for every lesson from now on. 

That's the week!! We love you and are praying extra hard for our 3 world travelers!

Xoxoxxoxoxox, mom

Spiritual Crocodiles‏-Beira, Mozambique

On Monday this week we were invited to a youth fireside/FHE for the Inhamizua Branch. The branch president is a 21 year old missionary, Elder Jacob Lake from Burley, Idaho. The theme was centered on the video Spiritual Crocodiles by President Boyd K. Packer.  Due to technical difficulties and several power outages, we were not able to show the video on the back wall of a member's home.......

First attempt to set up the projector.

 

  

 Elder Thurston and Mom

 

 

     The family well

 

 

   Elder Toyn and Elder Lake working on the screen

 

 

   Elder Lake teaching the 35 youth!!

   

There were 35 + people in this room for about 2 hours. We were sweating for most of the time.

In the April 1976 General Conference, President Boyd K. Packer said:

"Those ahead of you in life have probed about the water holes a bit and raise a voice of warning about crocodiles. Not just the big, gray lizards that can bite you to pieces, but spiritual crocodiles, infinitely more dangerous, and more deceptive and less visible, even, than those well-camouflaged reptiles of Africa.

These spiritual crocodiles can kill or mutilate your souls. They can destroy your peace of mind and the peace of mind of those who love you. Those are the ones to be warned against, and there is hardly a watering place in all of mortality now that is not infested with them.

On another trip to Africa I discussed this experience with a game ranger in another park. He assured me that you can indeed hide a crocodile in an elephant track—one big enough to bite a man in two.

He then showed me a place where a tragedy had occurred. A young man from England was working in the hotel for the season. In spite of constant and repeated warnings, he went through the compound fence to check something across a shallow splash of water that didn’t cover his tennis shoes.

“He wasn’t two steps in,” the ranger said, “before a crocodile had him, and we could do nothing to save him.”

It seems almost to be against our natures, particularly when we are young, to accept much guidance from others. But, young people, there are times when, regardless of how much we think we know or how much we think we want to do something, that our very existence depends on paying attention to the guides.

Now, it is a gruesome thing to think about that young man who was eaten by the crocodile. But that is not, by any means, the worst thing that could happen. There are moral and spiritual things far worse even than the thought of being chewed to pieces by a monstrous lizard.

Fortunately there are guides enough in life to prevent these things from happening if we are willing to take counsel now and again.

Some of us are appointed now, as you will be soon, to be guides and rangers. Now we don’t use those titles very much. We go under the titles of parents—father and mother—bishop, leader, adviser. Our assignment is to see that you get through mortality without being injured by these spiritual crocodiles.

All of the training and activity in the Church has as its central purpose a desire to see you, our young people, free and independent and secure, both spiritually and temporally.

If you will listen to the counsel of your parents and your teachers and your leaders when you are young, you can learn how to follow the best guide of all—the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. That is individual revelation. There is a process through which we can be alerted to spiritual dangers. Just as surely as that guide warned me, you can receive signals alerting you to the spiritual crocodiles that lurk ahead.

If we can train you to listen to these spiritual communications, you will be protected from these crocodiles of life. You can learn what it feels like to be guided from on high. This inspiration can come to you now, in all of your activities, in school, and dating—not just in your Church assignments.

Learn how to pray and how to receive answers to your prayers. When you pray over some things, you must patiently wait a long, long time before you will receive an answer. Some prayers, for your own safety, must be answered immediately, and some promptings will even come when you haven’t prayed at all.

Once you really determine to follow that guide, your testimony will grow and you will find provisions set out along the way in unexpected places, as evidence that someone knew that you would be traveling that way."  (Boyd K. Packer, Spiritual Crocodiles, April 1976)

 Here is a photo of us with two other senior couples. On the left is Sister Ann and Elder Daryl Hobson, Elder Larry and Sister Sandi Dille and Us:)

 I Love You!